How To Budget For Home Maintenance

May 26, 2017

Anyone who’s owned a home for more than a couple years will tell you that home maintenance is unpredictable. You may have some idea of when things will give out, but surprises still happen. You can go for long stints without having to replace anything, and then have to replace and fix several things in a short window of time. I’ve said over and over that you have to budget for home maintenance. But how?

A Typical Emergency Fund Doesn’t Cut It

Most financial gurus recommend having an emergency fund to cover unexpected costs. Typically they recommend keeping roughly $1000 in the fund. The fund is supposed to cover any unexpected and necessary expenses. By most stipulations for emergency funds, home repairs and appliance replacements would be appropriate costs for an emergency fund to cover.

The problem with using this kind of approach to cover home maintenance is that home maintenance expenses can easily be far larger than a mere $1,000 or even $2,000. Furthermore, even if you did have enough in your emergency fund to cover a home maintenance cost, draining your emergency fund to cover it would leave you vulnerable to another home repair or other emergency expense.

Home Maintenance Escrow Fund

If you’re a homeowner, you are probably familiar with using escrow to pay for your property taxes and insurance. Typically escrow funds are held by a third party to pay for future expenses so that you don’t spend the money elsewhere. However, you can apply the same concept on your own. Set up a separate account that’s designated for home maintenance.

Most people fund their emergency fund by going into ‘super-saving mode’ until their emergency fund is fully funded. Once their emergency fund is back to where they want it, they stop contributing until they have to draw from their emergency fund again. Instead of doing this for your home maintenance fund, budget a regular contribution. If you happen to go several months with no maintenance issues, just let your fund grow. You won’t regret it when issues do crop up.

How Much To Budget For Home Maintenance

Of course, the million dollar question is how much you should budget. There are so many variables, ranging from size and age of house to where you live. Maintenance expenses also will depend on how much you are willing to do yourself.

Over time, you’ll start to get a sense of how much home maintenance will cost you in your particular situation (although until you replace a roof or fix a foundation don’t jump to any conclusions). Until you do get a good idea, aim high. One good rule of thumb is to budget 2-3% of the home’s value for maintenance. This somewhat factors in location and size of your home (larger homes tend to be more expensive, and areas with higher land values also tend to have higher labor costs). If your home is newer, you’re probably safe budgeting 2% of your home value. For an older home, stick with 3%.

Aim For The Worst Case

Ideally, you’ll always have enough to cover the worst case scenario. In other words, figure out the most expensive repair you’ll have to pay for, and aim to stash that away in your maintenance fund. For most people, this is a roof replacement, although if you have signs of a cracking basement, foundation repair may be your worst case. Whatever it is, get a quote for your worst case scenario.

Obviously, you’re not going to reach your target right away. However, if your maintenance fund can’t seem to get passed a few hundred before something else crops up, you probably need to increase the amount you’re budgeting. On the other hand, if your maintenance stash seems to be growing at a good pace, great! Once you reach your magic number, you may be able to decrease how much you’re budgeting, but until then keep it up!

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While I do strive to only write accurate information and dispense valuable advice, I am not a licensed financial adviser. All information is based solely on my personal experience and personal research and should be treated as such. Find out more.

Comments

Home maintenance and repairs can be a huge budget buster for sure. We went through a few months where we owned 3 homes: a rental that went vacant, a home on the market, and a home undergoing extensive renovation. I will never again underestimate how much it costs to fix things, especially when you hire it out!
I love the idea of thinking about saving for home repairs in terms of an escrow. It’s not a question of “if” you will need it, it’s when and how much.

Home maintenance and repairs can get very expensive, even in a condo. Having a separate fund for those costs is a great idea. I like the 2-3% guideline. It’s also good to keep in mind the age of your appliances, roof, and HVAC system so you can estimate when repair/replacement is likely to be needed.

Home maintenance expenses can up in a hurry and for whatever reason they seem to come in pairs. I still remember when my AC went out and then I also had to go ahead to replace the furnance. That was a huge expense that I wasn’t quite ready for. But I’m glad I had my emergency maintenance fund all set up to cover things like that.